Crate and Barrel Reviews

Pros

Great products and thats about it.

Cons

Work life balance was horrible. The management was not very skilled at handling issues or even communicating with each other. The management was ever on the same page and therefor it reflected in the staff and culture. Most of the management team wouldn't step in and help out the staff with issues we couldn't solve on our own, or even had access to. Many managers just sat in the office, played computer games and took off early from their shifts.

Pros

Nice people, really great product,

Cons

Lack of formal training, OLD systems that do not make sense, SOOOOO many rules that are so locked in and not flexible. The level of petty and unsophisticated is beyond pale here. Things that are useful, but need to be done ONLY one way, and if you forget to do it that way, you are chastised.

Pros

Discounts are great. As a leader in the store, you receive bonuses if your store reaches its quarterly sales goals. Most of the associates I've come to work with are wonderful, while some are only there for the discount.

Cons

The company wants more for less. Demands and expectations are a lot to ask especially for the leadership team. Training needs a lot of work and consistency across all departments within the store. I've observed associates train other associates on incorrect information or do short cuts that aren't standard practices. Often times they have to get corrected or completely retrained which is a waste of payroll. Had they been trained properly, there would be less mistakes and confusion amongst the team. They have a lot of resources but it's so convoluted. You can spend so much time searching through pages and links before you find what you're looking for. The verbiage is confusing as well. They really need to nurture the associates that want to move up especially for corporate positions. Associates are able to apply as internal candidates, but require a recommendation from the Store Manager before being able to do so. Corporate should really look into hiring internally more than external. Yes it's a good having an outside perspective, but the changes they make do not always work in the store level.

Pros

Fun place to work. Was quite manual but allowed me to challenge my creativity to manage the business. Deliveries were on a set schedule. Open communication ranging from corporate to retail stores to warehouses.

Cons

Change in leaders was frequent. A lot of trial and error but that’s part of the process to success.